The Prayer Net

Prayer Works!

Researchers at Duke University Medical Center used rigorous scientific methods to study the therapeutic value of prayer. The results appeared in the American Heart Journal, November 1, 2001. One hundred and fifty patients with acute coronary insufficiency were enrolled in the study. All were scheduled for angioplasty-where doctors use a balloon device to force open a narrowed arteryfollowed by coronary artery stenting. That’s where a mesh tube is inserted into the artery to keep it open. All patients were cared for in the coronary intensive care unit. Patients, doctors, and nurses did not know which group patients were in. Prayer group members were scattered around the nation and given only the first names, diagnoses, and prognoses of patients. The prayed-for group had 25 to 30 percent fewer complications than the not-prayed-for group. And those who received intercessory prayer (instead of other meditative therapies like healing touch or guided imagery) had the greatest therapeutic benefits.

At Church of the Mountains we have the opportunity to pray for our joys and concerns in our church services and also with our partners in the prayer-net.

The Prayer Net is: Why we are a “net” as opposed to a “chain.“ When we had a prayer chain, the means of sharing concerns was through calling one another. That means of communication led to messages being unintentionally altered as they passed from one person to another and often there would be a time delay in reaching everyone. With the internet, we can reach everyone at once with the same message. What a blessing that is!! Another part of the blessing of using the internet is that any one of us can offer up a prayer. My thought is that we use the “net” but also that we are a net. I think of us as being equal in our opportunity to respond to our church community concerns.

If anyone is interested in joining us in this ministry please contact Cathie Foley (comumc@sbcglobal.net) or Judy Jensen (530) 587-4177.

To submit a prayer request, click here.

Yours in Christ,
Judy Jensen